Preparing for a research talk, investor pitch, or interview? Eager to polish your three-minute thesis video, podcast, or public talk? In this NEW, six-session workshop series, learn to refine your speaking and presentation skills across a range of contexts. Whether your audience is intimate or enormous, expert or novice, we will help you find strategies to capture and keep their attention. Each interactive session will invite you to implement tips on tailoring your content, delivery, and visual aids to develop your confidence, clarity, and charisma. At the end of six meetings, you will have solid advice and experience with introducing yourself and your topic, tailoring your talk to diverse audiences, structuring your content, streamlining your flow, practicing effectively, and fielding questions.Session 1: Tue, April 1, 4:00-5:30 p.m. First Impressions Session 2: Thu, April 3, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Engage Your Audience Session 3: Tue, April 8, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Structure Your Presentation Session 4: Thu, April 10, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Tell Your Story Session 5: Tue, April 15, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Enhance Your Presentation Session 6: Thu, April 17, 4:00-5:30 p.m. Finish Strong: Conclusions and Q&A

Speaker: David Lee (MIT) at 4:30 PM 2-131 (special time and location)Title: On the p-local homotopy type of truncated Brown—Peterson spectraAbstract: It is a result of Adams and Priddy that BSU admits a unique infinite loop space structure after localization at a prime p. On the way to proving this statement, they prove that the p-localized connective complex K-theory spectrum ku(p) is characterized by its 𝔽p-cohomology as a Steenrod module. I will talk about a generalization of this part to truncated Brown—Peterson spectra BP⟨ n⟩ at odd primes, which can be thought of as higher chromatic analogues of the connective complex K-theory. In particular, since the 𝔽p-cohomology depends only on the p-completion, a part of this result is that we can recover the p-local homotopy type of BP⟨ n⟩ from its p-completion. Finally, I will describe some applications and open questions, including the status of the problem at p = 2.

Speaker: Vasily Dolgushev (Temple University)Title: The action of Grothendieck-Teichmueller (GT) shadows on child's drawingsAbstract:Grothendieck-Teichmueller (GT) shadows can be thought of as approximations of elements of the mysterious Grothendieck-Teichmueller group GT introduced by V. Drinfeld in 1990. GT-shadows are morphisms of a groupoid GTSh whose objects are certain finite index normal subgroups of the Artin braid group. The groupoid GTSh is closely connected to group GT and to the absolute Galois group $G_Q$ of rational numbers. GTSh acts on Grothendieck's child's drawings and this action is compatible with those of the groups $G_Q$ and GT. In my talk, I will present the hierarchy of orbits of child's drawings with respect to the actions of $G_Q$, GT and GTSh, give selected examples and say a few words about future directions of this research. This talk is loosely based on my paper "The Action of GT-Shadows on Child's Drawings" (J. of Algebra, 2025). In many respects, the exploration of the action of GT-Shadows on child's drawings is inspired by a paper written by D. Harbater and L. Schneps in 1997.

Description of The Founder’s Pillars: The Founder’s Pillars is an augmented reality memorial that reimagines the six columns at MIT’s iconic Building 10. The building bears the name of William Barton Rogers—founder of MIT—yet also carries a less visible history: Rogers once enslaved six individuals in his household in Virgina. Drawing on six African regions, each reflected in a distinct textile and myth, the project merges classical architecture with African artistry to weave decolonial perspectives and narratives of freedom-making into six richly layered textile films. By activating these pillars, The Founder’s Pillars becomes a living tribute to the African diaspora’s ancestral roots and an acknowledgment of the Institute’s links to slavery.Meghna’s bio: Meghna Singh is an artist and visual anthropologist with a Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town. Her work explores themes of human migration, globalization, critical mobilities, and decolonization of the digital through immersive public art using video, sculpture, and XR. She blends documentary and fiction to address issues of humanism and colonial legacies in urban spaces. Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Aarhus University (2023–2025), she is also a National Geographic Explorer, an honorary fellow at the University of Hull’s Wilberforce Institute, and affiliated with several global creative and academic institutions. She co-directed the acclaimed VR installation Container: Witness the Invisibilised, which links slavery and capitalism and has been showcased at major international festivals, including Venice and Tribeca. It was also screened at the Nobel Week Dialogue in 2021. Singh’s work has been exhibited worldwide and supported by prestigious institutions like the Wellcome Trust, British Council, and Smithsonian. At the MIT OpenDocLab, she’s developing Enacting Futures: Occupying the Digital, an immersive project exploring speculative occupations in real and imagined worlds.

Prof. Olivier de WeckApollo Program Professor of Astronautics and Engineering SystemsAssociate Department Head of Aero Astro (Course XVI)Explore cutting-edge methods for assessing the economic potential of emerging technologies. Learn key financial tools like Net Present Value (NPV), Real Options Analysis (ROA), and Portfolio Management to make informed R&D investment decisions. Gain insights into risk assessment, resource allocation, and strategic financial planning to optimize technology portfolios and drive innovation sustainability. Don't miss this opportunity to align technology strategy with business success and gain a competitive edge in the market!

"Do you ever feel that life holds a deeper meaning beyond what you currently understand? The truth is profound—there are countless mysteries of existence, divinity, and the self that lie beyond our awareness. There is so much we don’t know, and even more that we don’t realize we don’t know."Join us on this exciting journey of Discover Your Self to explore the unknown territories of life and delve into the science of spirituality. This course, based on the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, will equip you with proven methods to achieve true inner joy and answer your deepest questions about life's higher principles. This Course explains Proven methods to attain the true inner joy of heart and gives answers to all the Inquiries about Higher Principles in life like the pathway for unlimited and everlasting happiness from the eyes of scriptures like Bhagavad Gita in a scientific perspective.Salient Features:Discover the Game of LifeDiscover Inner SelfDiscover The Ultimate GeniusDiscover Manual of LifeDiscover Lasting SolutionDiscover Sublime Joy Through SoundDiscover The Real Eternal LoveDiscover The Happy PlanetYou are invited to join us every Tuesday 6:00-7:00 pm. To your pleasure we have free delicious sattvik vegetarian dinner is available after every session.Event details:6:00 pm-6:10 pm: Mantra Meditation and kirtan6:10 pm-6:50 pm: : Session7:00pm : Dinner along with Q&A.Venue: MIT Room 56-180, 32 Vasaar Steeet, Cambridge MA Kindly RSVP here https://forms.gle/DEXUz6ig6dJZoU1k7Regards, MIT Vedic Vision Forum